It is hard not to think of Nehal Wadhera as the most successful IPL rookie batter of the year after he tellingly made his presence felt as Mumbai Indians’ Impact Player Substitute, replacing Suryakumar Yadav, in the Tata Indian Premier League 2023 Eliminator 1 game against Lucknow Super Giants at the M Chidamabaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
The other IPL rookies who have caught my eye are spinners – Noor Ahmad, Gujarat Titans’ Afghan import, and Kolkata Knight Riders’ Suyash Sharma. They have bowled craftily and with large hearts through the season. Though the 18-year-old Noor is already a well-travelled T20 cricketer, the trio have been standouts among those making their IPL debut this season.
Many of the other IPL rookies, especially those who have honed their skills on the domestic circuit in India, have discovered that sport can both be beautiful and brutal. That not many have courted success in the IPL may nudge us to think that these are lean times.
We would have to leave out some other ‘rookies’ out of the discussion. Cameron Green, the Australian star who has been an outstanding performer for Mumbai Indians, and Phil Salt, the Delhi Capitals’ England ace, who took over wicket-keeping responsibilities from Abhishek Porel as well as providing impetus in the middle-order. Both have brought their international experience to bear.
The nature of the beast is such that teams come together only for a few weeks, and the coaches and captains will perforce call on the experienced hands to deliver performances that matter. And it is not often that IPL rookies are summoned in their first seasons to bring their energy, intent and talent to the cauldron of high-pressure IPL matches.
In fact, team managements will not have much time to blood youngsters in the core group, making it imperative for the players themselves to use every little opportunity to catch the eye of someone significant in the decision-making hierarchy. And sometimes, the coaching staff find it hard to prepare the rookies for the big battles.
It is a given that coaching staff and captains will veer towards those who have developed a strong muscle memory and bear the scars of battle, than towards the enthusiasm and optimism of the younger elements, whose temperament and talent are largely untested in such a high-profile environment.
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Then again, for the IPL rookies, is it as grim a journey through the unknown as it seems from the outside? Perhaps not. It is up to the players to find ways to keep adding layers of cricketing intelligence when on the periphery and evolve as cricketers. And there can be no better finishing school than the IPL team, teeming with amazing cricketing intellect, for young players to evolve.
Besides, there are several wonderful overseas cricketers who have been benched for large parts of the season because only four such players can be part of an XI in any match. The conditions of the tracks play a huge role in shaping the thoughts of team managements when they sit down to pick the squad ahead of each match.
The time spent in serving apprenticeships can be most useful if a player is prepared to soak in the learnings and incorporate some of that into his own game. The example of Kolkata Knight Riders’s Rinku Singh springs to the mind. After having been around for five seasons during which he got just a handful of games, he took everyone’s breath away with his death-overs batting this season.
Akash Madhwal, the star of Mumbai Indians’ stunning victory over Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator in Chennai, has had the opportunity to learn at the Royal Challengers Bangalore and with Mumbai over the past couple of seasons. Pressed into action in tough circumstances for the side, he has secured himself a place in the XI with his bowling.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Vivrant Sharma is another, though he got to play only in a few matches towards the fag end of a dismal season for the team. The lad from Jammu spent some time at the nets as a leg-spinner in earlier seasons, and surprised the team’s thinktank with the range of his hitting. He did his reputation no harm when he scored a brisk half-century when he finally got to bat.
Gujarat Titans gave Darshan Nalkande that opportunity in the Qualifier 1 in Chennai. The young Vidarbha paceman all but grabbed the chance with both hands, but as his luck would have it, he had overstepped the crease when Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai Super Kings’ prolific opener, flicked a catch to short midwicket in his very first over.
At the other end of the spectrum from the rookies are the experienced hands. Some teams banked on such internationals roped in for the first time during the IPL Players Auction in December last year. It is never the easiest of tasks playing for a different franchise, and adapting themselves to the culture of their new team, but driven by the urge to excel, they expressed themselves well.
The seasoned campaigner Ajinkya Rahane, who has worn Chennai colours this season, showed he could hold his own and be relevant to the team’s collective purpose. Another Indian cricketer who did likewise was Amit Mishra, the leg-spinner, whenever Lucknow believed he could make a difference with his craft.
There were a few such overseas players who were relied upon by their new teams. After being part of other teams since being bought in an auction for the first time in 2017, Nicholas Pooran enjoyed his most productive IPL season for Lucknow. South Africa’s Heinrich Klassen returned to the IPL after a four-year gap and was a shining light for Sunrisers.
Called in as a replacement for the expensive and injured Jofra Archer by Mumbai, Chris Jordan quickly made himself useful to the team with his death-overs bowling alongside Madhwal. It does seem strange though that despite being an IPL regular, Jordan has never played a full quota of games in any season.
There is no substitute for experience, is there?
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